TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Closest casino to Orient Beach

If we wanted to take a taxi over to a casino one evening from our hotel at Orient Beach, which casino would you recommend? Since taxi fares are not cheap, we are likely to choose the closest one I guess but if there is a reason to go a little further we will. We generally play roulette and black jack if that makes any difference in choosing a casino. Thanks!

The closest would be PDP, as it is right over the border.

While we were staying at Club O in October, we wanted to go to a Casino to do a little gaming, and also to watch football on TV. Our cab driver we used for the entire stay (Mr. Wilfred Brooks a TTOL Sponsor) recommended Atlantis (near the Airport). It was very clean, the drink girls were always close by, and we had a very good time. We don't play table games, only slots, and didn't feel like we did any worse there than when we play in the U.S.
***edited to apologize to OP since I didn't answer his question as to which Casino is closest, only my thoughts of the Casino we visited.

02bnsxm, no need to apologize. Your opinion is helpful as we want to know about the closest casino as well as recommended ones. I am wondering if it might be worth it to go to a casino in Maho to experience some Maho nightlife. Any thoughts about that? For instance if we wanted to have dinner first and then go to a casino or find a bar for a drink would Maho area be the best choice to be able to walk around?

Yes, that would probably be your best choice if you would like a taste of Maho nightlife and dinner. Casino Royale is right there, they have valet parking and numerous surrounding restaurants.

Maho would have the most choices of different places to eat within walking distance, with Hollywood probably being second, or Atlantis. You said you play tables, including blackjack. One problem with Casino Royale to me personally is that their table limits are normally higher than most other places. Generally they have a $10 minimum on table games. Being a cheapskate, I much prefer $5. Normally you can get $5 tables at either Hollywood or PDP, and probably Atlantis, although it's been years since we've been to Atlantis.

Oh, one other thing, I HEARD that they had taken out the roulette tables at Casino Royale?? I don't know that for a fact, but heard it here I think.

Casino Information & Locations

No roulette table would be a deal breaker for me. I will check that out....thanks!

Like I said, I heard that, can't confirm it myself, as we only went to Hollywood in December.

The closest casino to Orient would be in the Westin Hotel which is by Dawn Beach. The Princess Casino would be the second closest. Casino Royale is the most popular casino on the island. I was there in December and they had a roulette table at that time.

All the blackjack tables at PDP use shufflemasters. They're evil.

Sorry, as in, they shuffle after every hand or what?

Forgot about the Westin. Do they get ANY action there? The only time we ever went there, it was totally DEAD.

Maybe what I heard was incorrect with regard to the roulette table at CR, or maybe they put it back in. What were the table limits, if you remember? Every time I've been to CR, it's always been $10, so we usually just walked back out.

Continuous shuffle machine:



Cards are drawn from the machine and fed back in after each hand, where they are randomly reinserted back into the deck. Makes it impossible to count cards and eliminates the delay needed to shuffle the deck.

It doesn't otherwise increase the house edge, but in my experience (or maybe I'm just imagining things), games have a different feel when these machines are used instead of a shoe or deck.

Yes. Doesn't take nearly as long as if the dealer shuffled, but they place the played cards into the shufflemaster and they are shuffled into the remaining cards. Kinda like playing a new shoe every hand.

HUGE advantage for the house.

I've never been in the Westin Casino at night. I was there once during the day when they were closed. From what I hear, there is not a lot of action there since it is so isolated.

The few times we've been in the Westin (and granted, it's been a while), the casino has been dead. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif" alt="" />

When we were there in December, Hollywood now is $10 minimum on the blackjack tables.

It was $10 when we were there between Christmas and New Year's, yes. In June 2014, it was $5, so I'm hoping that it was just for the Christmas time, as it was packed in there.

OK, thanks.

Carol.....at Casino Royale....it depends on the crowd when they set the minimum bets. I do know that during the day, early evening ..and after midnight the table limits do drop to 5 dollars.......or....if they are real quiet, during ''prime time'', they will open a couple of five dollar tables.
I think it all depends on the ''current mood'' of the floor supervisors.

There is a Casino at Great Bay Resort in Phillipsburg. That might be the 2nd closest in terms of driving time from Orient. No traffic jams.

Never been there, or any casino that remember in SXM, during the day, and we don't normally go in the evening until after dinner, so at least 8. We don't go there much, but like I said, never saw $5 tables there.

Couple years ago, Great Bay went all video. Are dealers back?

the westin is probably the closest. if there's a conference or event, the casino can get quite full but typically dead. i do like that they have a no smoking policy, but if you are playing blackjack, they have a house rule that you can only double down on 10 or 11 that sucks. haven't been to princess casino in awhile. they have a dress code that they don't always enforce (no sandals) in case you decide to go there. princess casino draws in a much more consistent crowd than the westin.

Hi Carol,The Westin gets action, very nice property. I also like the Hollywood casino, but that's a hike from Orient.

OK, not sure when the Westin gets action, as basically everyone else has said it's dead, unless there is a convention there.